Summer house for chins: ice house and granite house

[woolala]

My friend in China bought her chins an ice house and a granite house for the summer, and I wonder whether we have similar products here?

Or are any of the members here capable of making some? I'm definitely interested in buying one if it's available



So here are the pictures of an ice house:



This is what it looks like from outside

The upper case can open to place ice in. My friend used blue ice, which last longer.

For the bottom half, the door can slide open for cleaning, and here you see the inside. The grid guards the ice bags from the chins so they can't nibble on them, and the cool air can flow down.

 

[woolala]

Now, here is another homemade ice house that I found on the Chinese chin discussion board. A member made several of these and sold them on the board. Unfortunately he wouldn't do international shipping

Sorry the pictures are huge :hmm:

From outside

Entrance is at the side

and.... here is what the inside looks like. The two sections are separated by a piece of granite. Ice goes to the bottom half resting on a metal tray.

 

[woolala]

Finally a granite house:

Again, sorry for the huge pictures. They are not mine and I don't know how to adjust the size

Here is what is looks like:

side entrance

In use

 

[ChinnyMom]

can't see the photos.

 

[smhluvsmh]

I can't see the pics. Can anyone else?

 

[woolala]

uhh..............Sorry about that.

here, ice house No. 1

 

[woolala]

ice house No. 2

 

[woolala]

granite house

 

[xBrianx619]

Those look amazing! haha.

 

[sbringas]

If you find a website to buy these please post it ASAP! Lol I live in Florida and my chin would love it! And so would my wallet because of the high power bill haha

 

[tunes]

If you have air conditioning in your home, it would seem like these are a bit of overkill? Very few people who have chins in China want to spend the money to use air conditioning (I used to fight with them about it constantly on their forums, then gave up). For them using these, I guess it's about all the chins will get, but here?

If you do decide to go ahead, I would stay far away from the first one. It's made of wood. Wood with sweat and condensation equals mold and rot. Also, again, it's wood. Wood + chins = destruction. You'd be paying a buttload of money for a chew toy.

The second one I am not sure of either. It's got what looks like paneling or pressboard on it. Neither of those are safe for a chin to chew. The only way I would even consider either one is if they were made completely of metal and glass - something you can clean and that they won't destroy.

You would be better off just using the ceramic tiles or putting some frozen packs under their cage trays where they sleep, remembering that this stuff is only a temporary fix, not a substitute for a/c.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

I think #2 is the most interesting and possibly the most viable. The granite one makes me nervous simply because the top is granite. Maybe if it had a wood top I would feel a little more comfortable with it.
The first one makes me worry about condensation.
Speaking of which, how do you compensate for condensation in the second model?

 

[Claire D]

I would not recommend any of these as a solution to a warm environment - but it seems that many people like to try finding ways around using aircon.


The second house is upside down - cold air sinks so it makes more sense to put the frozen blocks in the top part and have the chin underneath .....
Another problem is air circulation - there would be very little air circulation in that second option so humidity would be an issue as well as getting fresh air in to the chin.
A third issue would be that there is no way to control the box temperature - you're basically putting a chinchilla into a fridge!

The granite house also does not allow for good air circulation even with the cut out sections and although granite is cool to the touch, it is not cooling the ambient (room/environment) temperature - so not much use for chins on a practical level.

 

[Dragonflye]

While these all look really neat, not to be redundant, but these could in no way be a substitute for AC. If it is hot and/or humid out, nothing can take the place of it.

 

[woolala]

Thank all for your comments. Make perfect sense!

I wasn't thinking of replacing AC with these summer houses, but rather using them as complement, but now they seem quite mediocre.

 

[lauralynne]

Wow, that is a tiny area with no ventilation that they're forcing that chinchilla to live in. Ice houses and granite houses are NOT a solution to having no A/C. If you have a chinchilla, the bottom line is that you must have air conditioning, no ifs ands or buts.